Emily Owens MD Season 2
by hopelesslyromanticredneck
Summary: Just my take on how the second season would go. Rated K for now, might go up as I continue.
1. Chapter 1

* Hey! First off, I'd like to thank everyone who read and reviewed my first fic, you guys rock! Always appreciate reviews :) So this is my followup fic, its a stand alone from my other one, kind of how season two would go down if there was a season two *sniff*. Bear with me, fellow Emicah fans. Its going to begin from where the first season left off (because, really, no way Emily would just suddenly go running off to be with Micah when she had been in love with Will for so long.) but Emily will come to her senses very quickly. Enough of my rambling, I hope everyone enjoys this one a much as they did my last one!

~Hopelesslyromantic redneck

_Chapter 1~Murphy's Law_

When Emily woke up, the first thing she thought was, I have the day off! No obnoxious crazy cat lady patients, no snarky comments from Cassandra, and no being terrified of giving a wrong answer or saying the wrong thing (Again) in front of Dr. Bandari.

The second thing she noticed was that she was naked and a brozned male arm was draped across her chest.

Turning her head, she saw Will laying facedown, hair tousled from sleep. She immediately turned her head back and stared at the ceiling while she sorted through everything running through her mind.

She was almost scared to breathe, what if he woke up? She knew she had terrible bed head, morning breath, and what little makeup she'd been wearing when they'd tumbled into bed was probably smeared under her eyes so she looked like a blonde raccoon.

She'd slept with Will. Finally, after four years of being in love with him, he was hers. She frowned when the expected butterflies and school girlish feelings didn't surface. Must be the lack of coffee dulling her senses, because there was no reason, when she had the man of her dreams in her bed, that she should be wondering what her very cute boss was doing with _his _ day off.

Looking around, Emily saw the comforter that she normally slept under crumpled down at the footboard of the bed. Gently, she picked up Will's arm and scooted off of the bed.

"Morning, sunshine."

Emily jumped at Will's voice, grabbing the comforter and wrapping it around herself. "Um, morning."

Will stretched, obviously not sharing her insecurities of being seen naked first thing in the morning. It wasn't like she was self conscious, but not everyone looked their best in blindingly bright sunlight. Why hadn't she pulled down the blinds?

"Where are you sneaking off to? Come back here." Will sat up, reaching for her, but Emily scooted out of his reach.

Strange how she felt so uncomfortable with him, now more so than when he had looked at her with such sympathy when she'd first confessed her feelings for him. And why was she thinking about that now? He was here, he obviously wasn't turned off by her morning visage, but all she could think about was getting dressed.

Emily stood awkwardly, holding the blanket she'd wrapped around herself. " I was going to make coffee. Want some?"

Reaching for his glasses, Will stood up and pulled his jeans on. Emily quickly turned around, face flushing red.

"I'll make it. You can go shower and get dressed if you want." Will walked over, pressing a kiss to her shoulder as he went out to her kitchen.

Letting out a breath that blew her hair off her her forehead, Emily grabbed a pair of jeans and a long sleeved tee out of her closet and went into the bathroom to shower, trying to ignore the part of her that said she'd made a mistake.

When Emily was dressed and showered, she ventured out into the kitchen. Will had not only made coffee, but he'd toasted a couple bagels and put them on the table.

He smiled at her when she came in, and pulled a chair next to his. " Feel better? I found bagels in your fridge, so I figured I'd make some. We worked up an appetite last night."

Emily sat down, sipping her coffee like it was a lifeline.

"I'm glad you were home. I didn't know if you'd be out with Micah, I was pretty worried. It would never have worked, he's your boss, and the way he picked Cassandra for that surgery? If he liked you, he would have picked you."

Frowning, Emily put her coffee down. " Everyone seems to pick Cassandra first, I'm used to it. And besides, he only picked her because he didn't want to seem like he was treating me any different. He told me later he wanted to pick me."

The first part of her sentence seemed to fly over Will's head. "Still, he's your boss. Wouldn't it be weird?"

Irritiated, Emily bit into a bagel that was a little too browned for her liking. " Any more weird than workplace relationships in general? Micah isn't like that, it wouldn't have made a difference."

Will sat back, looking at her quizzically. " Are you ok? You seem a little.. Off this morning."

Running a hand over her face, Emily gave him a wan smile. "It's just a lot to take in. You, being here, after last night, and... "

Another knock on the door interrupted her, and Emily got up to answer it. Tyra was back early, she'd kind of hoped that Will would have been gone before she got home so that EMily could sort out exactly how she felt about the whole thing.

When she opened the door, it wasn't Tyra standing there. Micah grinned at her, holding a small bouquet of wildflowers. There were those butterflies she'd been expecting earlier, along with the feeling of her heart leaping into her throat and then plummeting to her feet. It was just for the wrong guy. Or the right one.

Emily's mouth dropped open, and her mind froze.

"I figured since we were both off today, and that never happens, that we should take advantage of it and go for a walk, maybe get some food?"

Emily swallowed a few times. "Micah, I need to talk to you, I think I-"

Before she could finish, Will pulled the door open, holding both coffees. He smiled at Micah, rather like a predator facing another predator, Emily thought.

The smile vanished from Micah's face, and he dropped the hand holding the flowers to his side. He obviously didn't miss the fact that Will was still sans his shirt, and in Emily's apartment at nine 0'clock on a Sunday morning.

"Guess I shoud have called first." Micah chuckled. "Will, nice to see you. I guess I'll see you at work, Emily." He turned on his heel and made his way down the hall.

"Damnit. Micah!" Emily called, grabbing her boots and hopping as she yanked them on.

"Where are you going?" Will asked, as she ran out of the apartment after Micah.

"Emily!"

Ignoring him, Emily took the stairs two at a time, but by the time she'd made out of the front door, he was already in a cab.

She stood in the snow for a second until it started soaking through her shirt. Frustrated tears stung her eyes as she stepped inside and noticed the flowers Micah had brought for her in the hands of a young girl, chattering to her mother.

This was why Emily always thought everything through. Whenever she leapt, she missed the trampoline and landed right on her head.

Now that she'd screwed things up with Micah, she realized she really was over Will. Great timing, Dr. Owens, she thought to herself as Will walked over to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, steering her towards the elevator.

"What was his problem? Come on, you didn't finish your breakfast. Why don't we go out and get something?"

Nodding mutely, Emily let him lead her back to her apartment, trying not to think about the look of hurt in Micah's eyes when he'd turned and left. How was she going to fix this?

*How about that? That was hard to write! Although, I think that if there was going to be a season 2, thats about how it would go. Please review, tell me what you think! I'll work on getting chapter 2 up as soon as I can :)


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2_

The day passed slowly, with Emily trying to figure out a way to get Will to go home without hurting him, too.

She finally settled on fatigue, and sent him home around lunchtime. They both had an early start in the morning, shifts beginning at five in the morning, and Emily had laundry and cleaning to attend to.

Luckily, he didn't question her, even when she barely kissed him back when he left her at the door. She'd say that about him, he was a gentleman. Insisted on walking her to her door, and seeing her inside before he left.

"So, Will, huh? Thought you were leaning towards Micah yesterday." Tyra's voice from behind her almost made Emily jump out of her skin. As it was, she still spun around, hand to her throat, and smacked her elbow off of the door frame.

"Ouch! Tyra, you scared me to death!" Taking a deep breath to calm her racing heart, Emily closed the door behind her and regarded Tyra, who was sitting at the kitchen counter, munching on a green apple.

"When did you get back?"

Tyra smirked. "Just a few minutes before you and Will got here. I was treated to the whole thing, him opening the door, and the kiss goodbye? I figured you would be a little more animated after four years of... dreaming."

SIghing, Emily sagged back against the door frame.

"Tyra, I think I made a huge mistake. I might have ruined everything." The tears she'd been holding back all day, from the moment she'd watched Micah drive away in that cab, welled in her eyes.

Frowning, Tyra rushed over and helped her over to the couch,taking her hands. "What's wrong? What happened? Is Will terrible in bed? I honestly don't get you straight girls. Women know what women want."

Laughing as she blinked back her tears and wiped her eyes, Emily shook her head. "No, its not that. It's just that... I slept with Will, and I think I would rather have... not." Looking at Tyra, Emily squeezed her hands. It was good to have friends who would listen to nonsensical babbling.

"When I said I was over Will, I really wasn't. At all. I still harbored those feelings for him, until he showed up here last night. I think I got over him when he kissed me. Does that make any sense?"

Tyra stood up and went to make some tea. "Honey, you're talking to a lesbian about kissing men. None of this makes any sense to me. But, did you get over Will when he kissed you, or when _Micah_ kissed you?"

Dropping her head into her hands to massage the migraine she felt coming on, Emily snorted. "I don't know. This is so confusing. I knew it was all a mistake when Micah showed up here this morning."

Tyra's muttered curse made Emily look up. She'd spilled hot water on her hand, and was running it under cold water. "Micah showed up here? This morning? Were you and Will...?"

Emily goggled at her. "God- thank god, no. He brought flowers, and he wanted to go for a walk and get breakfast, and I knew I'd made a huge mistake, because I got the butterflies _then_, when I should have gotten them when I was with Will, but when I saw Micah it was like my heart dropped down into my feet because Will was here, and when he saw Will he'd _know_, and-"

"Breathe. You're going to start hyperventilating. Let's try this again. Micah showed up, with flowers- which since I see none, I'm assuming Will brought none and Micah left with his- and he saw Will." Tyra handed Emily a cup of chamomile tea, while she blew on and then sipped her own.

Taking a deep, calming breath, Emily recounted the rest of the morning, seeing Micah leave in the cab, and having to spend the day with Will when she was miserable over what she'd done.

Sitting back, Tyra blew out a breath. "Wow. This is going to get awkward at work when you tell Will how you feel. Tell me how it works out, it might help me when I finally tell my father I don't have a boyfriend because I like girls."

With a pained chuckle, Emily sat back, pulling her legs up underneath her. "I don't even know where to start."

"Well, you could start by explaining to Will that you don't feel that way about him. And then go talk to Micah after that. Micah is a good guy, I'm sure he will understand. Hell, you were in love with Will for four years, he can't really begrudge you getting a little play out of it." Tyra smiled at her, and Emily nodded. It made sense, she supposed.

Hopefuly Tyra was right, and Micah would forgive her.

The next morning, Emily was pulling her lab coat on, when a pair of hands bracketed her waist, and a kiss was placed on her neck.

She'd recognize Will anywhere, and she turned around with a smile. She started to step back, but not before the door swung open, and Micah started to walk in.

Once he saw Will and Emily, though, he turned around without a word and left. Emily raised a hand to wave him down, but he was gone before he saw it. Worst timing ever.

Dropping hand to her side, she stepped back and put her watch on.

"Hey, don't look so sad. He'll get over it. Want to grab something at the cafeteria before our shift starts?" Will asked, but Emily shook her head.

"Will, we need to talk. It's about us, I'm not sure-" Both of their pagers beeped before she could finish, and she felt like cursing.

Without a word, they ran to the entrance to the hospital, where the EMTs were transferring a blood covered woman who looked about eight months pregnant onto a gurney.

Dr. Bandari was already there with Micah and Tyra, Cassandra was hurrying after them.

"Female, mid twenties, thirty three weeks along according to her husband, car accident. Head trauma, possible concussion, multiple contusions, heart rate rapid and thready."

The heart rate monitor suddenly flatlined, and Dr. Bandari immediately started chest compressions. " She's going into cardiac arrest, we need to get her into surgery _now!_ We need to get this baby out before we lose them both."

"Dr. Owens, you'll assist." Micah said, and Emily followed them into the surgical suite.

By the end of the surgery, they'd stabilized both mother and baby, although it was going to be touch and go for a while for both of them.

Micah and Emily went out to the waiting room, where her husband was waving off a nurse who was trying to clean a cut on his forehead.

When he saw them approaching he stood up unsteadily, moving towards them. They stared a look, quickly moving to his side and sitting him down.

"Mr. Daigle, your wife and baby are both out of surgery. They're not out of the woods yet, but its looking good. Your wife has a nasty concussion, but we think she'll be fine." Micah assured him, while Emily took the cleaning supplied from the nurse and started cleaning his head wound.

"The baby will be fine too. She's a little earlier than you expected, I'm sure, but she's a fighter. She could use a name, if your wife and yourself have one picked out. And this cut is going to need stitches, are you exeriencing any dizzyness or nausea? Looks like you hit your head pretty hard."

nodded, and let Emily lead him to a room where she and Micah could take better care of him.

"We were thinking Thea for a girl, and Johnathan for a boy. So I guess it's Thea. I'm so glad they're ok, it was a horrific accident. We were thinking Thea for a girl, Johnathan for a..."

Emiy turned around from grabbing a penlight to check his pupil reaction when he started to repeat himself.

The man started to shake, and Micah grabbed him, rolling him onto his side. Emily yelled for a nurse to bring meds, and they went to work on him. His brain was swelling, pressing against his skull.

"Looks like we have another one for surgery. Page Drs. Bandari and Copplessen." Micah ordered as they brought him out of the room.

Emily stood, watching as they rolled the patient away. She had a feeling it wasn't going to be a good day.

* I'm not a dr, so I'm sure some of my medical terms are wrong- I did a bit of research and tried to keep it as baseline as I could. This story is going to revolve around Emily and Micah more so than the medical jargon, so I'm going to try and keep it light on the medical terms as much as I can, since I don't want to make mistakes if I can avoid it. Keep reading and reviewing so I know if you are enjoing it :)

Next Chapter: Emily talks to both Will and Micah, and has a run in with Cassandra.


	3. Chapter 3

* Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter (even though I put it on the wrong story, still new at this! lol) There will be less Will/Emily after this chapter, and more delicious Emicah angst ;) had to get Will out of the way before I could carry on with the good stuff, you know!

_Chapter 3_

By the time Emily broke for lunch, things had calmed down considerably. Mr. Daigle was resting peacefully in the same room as his wife, who had woken up pleasantly surprised that she wasn't pregnant anymore. She agreed that the baby's name would be Thea, and was wheeled in to see her.

She debated eating lunch in her office to avoid seeing Will, but quickly dismissed that idea as cowardy. She needed to talk to him and set things straight so she could talk to Micah and set things straight with _him_. How did things get so complicated so quickly?

Apple or orange? As Emily stood in the lunch line debating her choices, Cassandra came up behind her.

Orange it was. Emily put it on her tray, along with a chocolate milk and a turkey wrap. "Hey, Cassandra. How was the surgery on ?" Emily asked, digging in her scrubs pocket for the correct change.

Cassandra didn't answer as she took a bowl of soup and some crackers, paying the cashier and following Emily to her seat.

It was a little strange, since Cassandra normally sat anywhere Emily wasn't, but maybe her break up ith Will had made her turn over a new leaf.

"I hear you're with Will. He's such a great guy, isn't he?"

That explained it. Emily cringed, knowing that the conversation wasn't going to end well. "I, well, not really. How did you know, did he talk to you?"

If Will was telling everyone they were together,it was going to be a lot harder for Emily to quietly end... whatever it was they had going on.

Cassandra blew on her soup before taking a sip. "I asked him if he wanted to go for coffee, and he said he couldn't, that he was seeing someone. I broke up with him, so I suppose it shouldn't surprise me that he rebounded so quickly with you. He knew you were a sure bet, he was pretty upset when I ended things. So I guess it makes sense he'd go to you for support. Maybe those hidden feelings finally came to the surface."

And it got more complicated. "Cassandra, Will and I aren't together. I was going to talk to him sometime today, I'm over him. I don't want to be someone's second choice, you know?"

Finishing her lunch, Cassandra stood up with a typically Cassandra smile. It said, I'm just saying this so I sound nice but we both know I'm being a total bitch. "No, I don't know. I've never been someone's second choice, but I guess it wouldn't feel very good."

She turned to leave, then stopped and looked back. "So, you wouldn't have a problem with me getting back together with him?"

Like it would matter even if I did, Emily thought, but outwardly she just smiled and shook her head. With a quick flick of her hair, Cassandra sha-shayed off.

Tyra dropped into the seat she'd vacated, digging into her burger and fries. "What did the wicked witch of the west want?"

"Information, I think. I think she's regretting breaking up with him. I saw her, the other day when the older lesbian couple was leaving the hospital, and was watching Will with tears in her eyes. Of course, when I asked her what was wrong,she blew me off, but I knew something was up."

Rolling her eyes, Tyra dipped a few fries in ketchup. "What a pair. You realize you have feeings for Micah, so Will realizes he has feelings for you. Cassandra breaks up with him, so he goes after you, messing things up with Micah. Now that Will's interested in starting something with you, she realizes she wants him back. Its like an episode of One Tree Hill."

Emily finished off her lunch and sat back with a chuckle. "I don't know what that is, but if it involves a messed up and confusing love life, I'm agreeing with you. I need to go find Will and figure this out. Think I'll be able to do it without getting paged?"

Tyra just looked at her, taking a huge bite out of her burger.

"Yeah, me either."

It took Emily ten minutes to fin Will- working through his lunch hour in the ER, even though there was nothing going on.

He was finishing up stitching up a young girl's leg. "There you go. Maybe wear some knee pads next time you decide to play on your brother's skateboard, huh?"

The girl, maybe twelve, blushed as she got up and walked out with her mother.

"Someone's got a crush." Emily commented as Will turned around, smiling at her.

"She's a good kid. Idolizes her older brother, from what I got. He's sixteen and really cool in her eyes. What's up? Want to grab some lunch?" Will rubbed some antibacterial lotion on his hands, following Emily out of the ER.

Emily looked up at him, wondering why she couldn't still be in love with him. A month ago, if WIll had shown up at her door and jumped into bed with her, she'd have been ecstatic.

"Lunch is almost over, it's twenty to one. You know, you need to let go of the mistake you made. Yes, it was horrible, but working yourself into the ground isn't going to make it better." Emily opened the door to her office and let him go in first.

Will closed it behind them, reaching for her. "Well, well, Dr. Owens. I never figured you for the lunchtime quickie type, but I'll do my-"

Emily scooted away from him, opening the door and almost running to put her desk between them.

"I'm definitely not. At all." She laughed nervously, sitting in the chair that Micah had brought her. She couldn't look anywhere in the office and not be reminded of Micah. The picture he'd brought her was on the wall, and it made her smile.

Following her gaze, Will frowned. "That's a little morbid to have hanging in your office, isn't it?"

Shaking her head, Emily replied, "No, not at all. Just ignore all the cancer-y bits. Its paradise."

She stared at it a second longer before pulling herself back. Focus, Dr. Owens. You've got to get this figured out.

"So, Will." Not the best way to start it, especially when he propped his hip on the edge of the desk next to her.

"Umm, I think we should talk about yesterday night."

Will grinned. "A long time coming, huh? Don't know why I didn't do it before, I was so stupid."

Yes, yes you were. Emily thought. You were too busy chasing after Cassandra while I pined away after you.

"Yeah, I suppose it was. Which is why I want to talk to you, I'm not sure it's a good idea for us to continue, because, you know, I think Cassandra still has feelings for you, and I wouldn't want to see her hurt." Emily cringed again- not exactly how she'd wanted that to come out.

Will waved his hand. "Cassandra broke up with me. She really is everything you warned me about. I should have listened. I didn't tell her we were together, just that I was seeing someone."

A knock rapped on the door, and it opened. Micah peeked in, studiously ignoring Will's presence. "One of your patients, the young boy in 112A, was asking for you, Dr. Owens. Once you have a minute, you should go check on him." He closed the door, and Emily jumped up.

"We aren't together, Will. I need to go, can we talk about this later?" She dashed out, jogging to catch up with Micah.

"Micah, wait!" He slowed down, looking up to the ceiling as she caught up to him. He stopped, looking at her expectantly.

She ran a hand through her hair, suddenly awkward. When had it gotten so awkward to talk to Micah? She'd been able to talk to him since the moment he found her eating junk food in the stairway.

When he chose you and found you with Will, a tiny part of her mind whispered. Why wouldn't it be awkward? You basically did to him what Will to you with Cassandra.

She shoved those thoughts out of her mind. "I feel like I need to explain things to you. There's nothing going on-"

He interrupted her. " You don't need to explain anything to me. You have a patient waiting for you, and I have to do rounds. I should have known better, you told me all about your feelings for least you guys are finally trying to work things out." He softened his words with a smile, making Emily feel even worse. Only Micah could be so nice when he was obviously so hurt.

Emily wiped her sweaty palms on her pants. "Well, thats kind of what I want to talk to you about. See, I realized that when I told you I was over Will, I lied. I still did, but when you kis-"

Micah's pager beeped, and he looked at it. "I've got to get this. I'll talk to you later."

Pagers would be the death of her, Emily thought.

Why couldn't she explain anything to anyone today? Will hadn't gotten her message, and Micah left before she could explain anything to him.

She would have to deal with it later. She had patients to deal with, and rounds of her own, with Dr. Bandari, to attend to. Hopefully she would be able to talk to them both before things got any worse.


	4. Chapter 4

* Hey! Sorry I've been absent in posting a new chapter, work has been crazy busy. Thanks for all the feedback, I appreciate it :) Good to know people are enjoying my take on season 2.

Chapter 4

After Emily spent some time with her young patient- Josh was a good kid, eight years old, with type two diabetes. His father, an absentee businessman, dropped him off whenever Josh had an appointment, and all Josh wanted was someone to talk to.

Emily got that, with her own mother being as... eccentric as she was. So she always made time to talk to him about whatever he wanted to know, normally medical stuff. The kid wanted to be a doctor when he was older, so Emily was more than happy to keep him company when she had time.

Now, though, she was going to be late for rounds with Dr. Bandari if she didn't hurry. Checking her watch, she jogged to the nursing station, stopping next to Tyra just as Bandari and Micah showed up.

"Nice of you to make it, Dr. Owens." Emily smiled awkwardly, and studied her shoes. At least I made it here before she got here, she thought as Dr. Bandari started to quiz them.

When Emily and Cassandra answered the majority of her questions to her liking, Dr. Bandari nodded.

"I knew I picked you as my research assistant for a reason, Dr. Owens. You'll be assisiting Dr. Barnes with his heart surgery later today. Let's begin our rounds."

Micah met Emily's eyes for a second before he turned and followed Dr. Bandari. Well, maybe she'd get a chance to talk to him before the surgery. She knew he liked to hide out in the records room to get his thoughts together... On second thought, interrupting his prep time probably wasn't the best way she could approach things. She needed to talk to Will and sort things out with him before she talked to Micah anyway.

"Psst." Tyra hissed, as Cassandra and Will walked ahead of them. "You talk to either of them yet?"

Emily sighed. "No, Micah interrupted when I was talking to Will, and when I followed him to talk to _him_, he got paged. Aren't you tired of hearing about this yet?"

Tyra snorted, letting Emily walk through the door to where their new patient lay. "Are you kidding? This is better than cable."

Dr. Bandari was explaining that the young woman, pretty and blonde in her early twenties, had mitral stenosis stemming from a congential heart defect. Her mitral valve only opened half as wide as it was supposed to, not allowing enough blood to fill the left atrium of her heart. It was causing fluid to build up in her lungs, so she needed a mitral valve transplant. Luckily for her, the hospital had found one.

"Can anyone tell me another treatment for mitral stenosis? Dr. Owens."

Emily cleared her throat. " If the patient had a less serious form of mitral stenosis, mitral valvuloplasty could be used."

"Complications?" asked.

" Hemodynamic compromise and pulmonary edema, which would require a mitral valve replacement."

Nodding, Dr. Bandari took everyone but Micah and Emily to continue rounds, leaving them to talk to the patient, and answer any questions she had before they did the surgery in a couple of hours.

"Good job answering her questions. She's probably going to test you even more now that you're her research assisant." Micah said, helping the patient- Molly Brenner, according to her chart- sit up.

"Oh, wonderful. Just what I was hoping for." Emily said, smiling at Micah.

"Molly, Dr. Owens is going to listen to your heart for a minute, if thats ok." When she nodded her assent, Emily took her stethoscope from around her neck.

"Have you ever listened to a heart with mitral stenosis?"

Shaking her head, Emily introduced herself to Molly, then placed the scope on her chest. "You'll be able to hear it straight away, on the a2 and s2 beats." Micah told her, and Emily took the scope away when she heard it.

" I'm going to start training for a marathon once I'm all healed up. My symptoms get much worse whenever I ran before, so now I'll actually be able to train." She beamed up at Micah, a red tinge touching her cheeks when he smiled back at her.

Emily knew how she felt. Now that she knew how she felt about him, she could see how handsome he was, both inside and out. Not that she hadn't seen it before, because she had- she'd tried not to see it, actually, since he was her boss- but she'd had eyes only for Will.

Pulling herself from her thoughts, she handed Molly the glass of water she asked for. "A marathon, wow. That's quite an undertaking. I can't imagine running that far by choice."

Molly twirled a claddaugh ring, crown facing downwards, around her index finger. "A lot of people don't get it. I think it's because its something that's always been out of my reach, you know? When you see something you want, and it seems like its out of your reach, you want it more I think."

"I can understand that." Emily replied. "Do you have any questions about the surgery?" Micah asked, giving Emily a sideways grin.

Molly asked a few questions, mostly about how dangerous the surgery would be, and they did their best to assuage her fears.

When they were finished, they walked out together, Micah promising to come see Molly before she went in.

"I think she likes you." Emily teased as they walked away from the room.

Micah chuckled, "I have that effect on women, I guess. I'm just happy Dr. Bandari chose me to perform the surgery- I think she's trying to wean herself off slowly before she goes on vacation."

They stood for a second at the nurse's station, smiling at each other. Micah looked away first, checking his watch. " Well, we have an hour before we have to prep for surgery. I'm going to go get a coffee, I'll see you later."

Emily said goodbye, then went off in search of Will. With any luck, she would be able to talk to him before she had to scrub in, and she would be able to talk to Micah after.

It didn't take her long to find him, chatting with Cassandra as they were leaving a patient's room. They were laughing, but when Will saw Emily, he finished up his conversation with Cassandra and walked over to Emily.

She didn't miss the annoyed look Cassandra shot her before she walked off in a huff, but chose to ignore it. She had more important things to deal with than Cassandra's moods.

"Hey. Do you have a minute?" Emily asked, and when Will nodded, they walked to her office. After the rush of the morning, it was still quiet after lunch.

Will propped his hip up on the corner of her desk. Emily clasped her hands in front of her.

"Will, I..." She stopped, unsure of how to proceed. As much as she's thought about it, actually _doing _it wasn't easy.

She'd cared about him for so long, and now she had him. But now that she had him, she wanted someone else. Emily understood, in depth and detail, how the human heart worked in a physical sense. How and why it felt the way it did, that she couldn't seem to grasp at all.

"Are you ok? You've been... weird since this morning. I thought you would be happy that I finally saw how wrong I'd been, I was a fool to turn away when you told me how you felt."

Emily's eyes watered. If only she'd heard him say that when she wanted to hear it.

"Will, since I met you, we've been such good friends. You were my rock going through med school, and for so long, I've..." She sighed. "I loved you. You were the only one I had eyes for."

"Had?" Will asked, a look of hurt coming into his eyes.

"Will, please." Emily looked earnestly into his eyes. "Please don't hate me. I just... I don't think we should do this. We're so good as friends, I think I was too blinded by my infatuation to see it before. And last night... Last night was great. So great. But, it's not what I want."

"You had real feelings for Cassandra, I know you did. She was different with you. I have real feelings for someone too, now. I think that you're with me because you're scared of losing me as a friend, and you won't! I promise. We'll always be friends, Will."

Will was staring at the ground. "So you think I'm only here because you're some kind of... rebound from Cassandra? What if your feelings for Micah- I'm going to assume it's Micah- are a rebound from me dating Cassandra?" He looked up, his brown eyes meeting her own blue ones.

"I don't think we should just give up on us, Emily. Give it some time."

Emily hesitated. " Will... I..."

Will's lips thinned. "If thats the way you want it. I have to go do rounds." He stood up, pulling the door open and leaving before Emily could respond.

She sunk down into her chair, thinking that she might have just made everything worse.


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter 5_

Emily only allowed herself a few minutes to wallow in misery and self recrimination before she forced herself to leave her office.

Really, she'd done the right thing. She didn't have the same feelings for Will anymore, but still, the look on his face when he'd left stuck a knife right into her heart. She might not love him in a romantic sense anymore, but she still loved him as friend. Hurting him hadn't been part of her plan.

Squaring her shoulders, she walked towards the cafeteria. She would think of a way to make it up to him. Maybe bake him something? She quickly dismissed the idea with a shake of her head. Anything she would cook would most likely make him sick, and that wasn't going to get her back into his good graces.

Honestly, she'd done them both a favour. Or so she tried to convince herself. People didn't suddenly develop feelings out of the blue, after four years. The fact that Will only seemed to find his feelings for Emily to be more than mere friendship so soon after his break up with Cassandra, and pretty much as soon as he found out that Emily had feelings for Micah... That should prove that he was only rebounding. Right?

Emily was so immersed in her own mind that it took a second to realize someone was calling her name.

She turned to see Micah come out of the records room, and stopped to wait for him with a smile, the now familiar butterflies flying around in her stomach when he returned her smile and started walking with her.

"You all right? You seemed out of it. Worried about the surgery?"

Shaking her head, Emily toyed with the edge of her sleeve. "No, I'm confident about that." She looked up at him. "I'm usually pretty confident in my medical skills. It's my people skills that worry me."

Micah bumped his shoulder against hers companiably. "Oh, I don't know. I think your people skills are just fine. I think it's your over thinking about what people think that's your issue."

Sighing, Emily grabbed a yoghurt off of the counter and paid for it. " I broke it off with Will. We were never really together, I think he was just scared about me moving on with-" She cleared her throat, avoiding Micah's gaze- which she could feel like a tangible caress on her face.

"Anyway, I think he's annoyed with me now. And I'm sure you'd rather talk about something else. Especially after when you saw... You must think I'm a horrible person." It suddenly occurred to Emily what it must look like to Micah.

He'd told her that he wanted to try a relationship with her, after she'd told him that she was over Will. Then, he shows up at her door the morning after with flowers, to find her with Will, and now, here she was, telling him about how she'd broken up with Will.

She was a hussy. It was really the best word for her. God, she'd had a chance with both of them, and she'd ruined both. Talk about leaping before looking, she'd really landed in it this time...

"No, I don't think you're a horrible person. I could never think that." Micah guided her to a table, interrupting her inner monologue.

"What I think," He mused, taking a bite out of his apple, "Is that you were given a chance at something you'd wanted for a long time, and like most people, took it. You never know what could happen, right?"

Emily nodded, glad he understood.

"Really, it worked out for the best. You were right. You and me, it would have gotten awkward. With me being your boss and all, I'd want to make sure I didn't give you special treatment, and probably overcompensate the way I did with choosing Cassandra for the surgery, and really, with my sister showing up here... I'm going to be so busy keeping _her_ out of trouble that I'll barely have time to eat and sleep between her and being here."

His words seemed to take longer than usual to sink in as Emily sat there with her spoon in her yoghurt cup.

"Besides, my mother decided to do the trial, so I'll be helping her with that. " It was Micah's turn to avoid her gaze for a moment, and when his warm brown eyes met Emily's, they were full of an emotion Emily couldn't read.

"Your... your mother decided to do the trial?" Emily decided to take the coward's way out and latch onto that.

She didn't miss the look of disappointment that flashed through his eyes before he sat back in his chair.

"Yeah, when Penny told her she was pregnant, it made Mom decide to be around her her grandkid if she could." Micah frowned. "Even though she lied. Penny isn't pregnant, she just manipulated us like she always does."

Emily's eyes widened. "Are you going to tell your mother? Because, obviously, she's going to find out when Penny doesn't start showing."

Micah sighed, running a hand down his face. "According to her, she's just going to 'lose the baby'. And mom will already be in the trial by then... Knowing her, she'll put up a huge fuss and mom will stay in the trial just to be around for her. The worst thing is, I can't be entirely mad at her. Penny is making sure mom lives for a while longer, you know? How can I be mad about that?"

Reaching across the table, Emily squeezed his hand, ignoring the way it felt when he squeezed back and held on for a second longer thanhe needed to.

"It's understandable. You don't want your mother to give up- it would be worse if you did, I think."

Micah gave her a greatful look. "Thanks." They sat there for a minute in companionable silence, Emily wishing that... She didn't know what she wished for. A less complicated love life, maybe. That she hadn't screwed everything up.

we scrub in. Are you ready for this, Dr. Owens?" Micah teased, standing up, the brevity in his voice forced, but Emily went along with it.

"Of course. Lead the way, Dr. Barnes."

After the surgery- which went well, the more Emily watched Micah in the OR, the more she was in awe of his patience and skill- Emily started rounds.

Tyra caught up with her, falling into step as Emily checked her charts.

"Ooh, heavy metal poisoning? Exciting." Tyra said, reading the top chart. "All I get are kids with the flu. Which, really, just makes me glad I probably won't ever have kids. They get sick so much, I don't know how their parents deal with it. So, I saw you and Micah together in the cafeteria. You sort everything out yet? Should I start knocking before I come into the apartment, in case you're doing some knocking of your-"

Emily cleared her throat. " No, actually, I didn't. I'm pretty sure I messed everything up even more."

Tyra grabbed her arm, pulling her into an empty room. "What? What did you do? What did you say?"

Emily sat down, deciding she could take a few minutes off. She was ahead of her rounds anyway.

Placing the charts on the bed next to her, she ran a hand through her mussed hair. "I told Will that we were better off as friends, and he didn't take a well. Then, when I ran into Micah, he told me that _we _were better off as friends. Him being my boss and all, it would get awkward and it wasn't a good idea, his sister is a pain, and with his mother... It's all just a mess. How did I go from being so on top of my love life to lying on my back, wondering what happened?"

Crossing her arms, Tyra cocked her head at Emily. "So, what are you going to do about it?"

Emily looked blankly back at her. "Do..? Micah was pretty clear."

Throwing her hands in the air, Tyra sat down on the bed across from Emily. "You are the most clueless woman I've ever met. I saw when you two were holding hands. He didn't want to let go. When you aren't watching him, he's got his eyes on you. Even when we're doing rounds, when he knows Bandari and Jamie aren't watching, he watches you. Not in a creepy, wants to tie you up in his basement way, but in a 'he likes you' way. Which, it isn't surprising that Bandari and Dr. Albagetti arent watching you, because they're so busy not watching each other its amazing they haven't set each other on fire yet."

Emily opened her mouth, but Tyra wasn't finished. "You can't just give up. The man declared his feelings, told you he wanted to take you out, had a non date with you in the records room, kissed the daylights out of you... feelings don't change so fast. His fragile male ego is just bruised. We need an action plan."

"An action plan?" Emily asked, incredulous. Micah watched her? The thought gave her a happy buzz.

"Yeah. You waited arounf for Will for four years, and he chose Cassandra. Don't miss this chance with Micah." Tyra checked her watch. "Damn. I'm late for a late lunch with my dad. Since I moved out, he seems more able to see me as an adult. Think about what I said!" Tyra called as she rushed out of the room.

Emily hoped her friend was right. And she hoped that she would be able to return to where Will and her were friends. First, though, she had to be a doctor. That, she understood. Treating patients was a lot simpler than dealing with her own emotions.

*Hey everyone! Don't hate me, I couldnt just let them get together right away! There has to be a littel angst, makes the payoff so much sweeter I find. Plus, Micah wouldn't just forget about seeing her with Will so quickly, I don't think. Read and review!

Next chapter, Emily talks to Micah's mother and starts to mend fences with Will.


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter 6_

The rest of the day flew by, without Emily getting a chance to talk to Will or Micah again. She was off shift at eleven that night, a very long day, but not out of the ordinary for a resident. Sitting in the locker room, she took a second to reflect on the day as she wound her scarf around her neck.

She'd straightened things out with Will- albeit not exacty in the way she'd planned, but she had time to fix that (she hoped) and she'd talked to Micah. Again, it hadn't gone how she'd planned, but if Tyra was right... She still didn't know how to proceed. If her love life was a patient, she'd say it was about to flatline.

Emily needed a crash cart, stat, and a plan of action. Unfortuntely, her brain was fried from an eighteen hour shift, and all she wanted was to go home and crawl into her bed.

She winced as she stood up, remembering the workout her sheets had gotten the night before. Maybe she'd do some laundry before she went to bed.

Heading for thr door, she jumped back as it swung open just as she had reached for the doorknob.

Will walked in, running a hand through his hair. Emily stood back, clearing her throat. "Hi, Will."

Looking up, he noticed her standing there and frowned, going to his locker wihout a word.

Her heart sinking in her chest, Emily toyed with the ends of her scarf. "You know, when I declared my feelings for _you_ and you let me down easy, I didn't give you the silent treatment."

Pulling his scrub shirt over his head, he turned to her, his annoyance and hurt evident in his eyes. "So what, what you said ealier was payback? "

Emily sighed. She really was too tired for this, but if she could start to mend one of her issues, it would help her sleep better.

"No, Will, it's not payback. I just... I told you I was over you, remember? I might have been lying then, but I'm not anymore. I don't want to lead you on when you could be happy with someone who has feelings for you. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you, but you know me. Things don't always come out the way I pictured them in my head."

Will stared at her evenly as he pulled his jacket on.

Of course he wouldn't make it easy on her. "Truce? I'll buy you a coffee on our way home?" Emily crossed her fingers behind her back, hoping he would go with it.

He was silent a minute longer, then a small smile graced his lips. "I suppose. After all, you dealt with my rejection with grace,the least I could do is return the favour, I suppose."

Opening the door for her, he let her go out first. "But, really, Micah? Couldn't you fall for someone a little farther removed from us? Just to soothe my bruised ego?" He nudged her with his shoulder, and Emily smiled in relief. They were back to being them. But maybe better than before, without all the messy feelings between them.

Neither of them saw Micah's mother sitting in her wheelchair, waiting for Penny to bring her a sandwich from the cafeteria, listening to the entire conversation.

By the time Emily got home, she was ready to collapse into her bed and be unconscious until her alarm woke her for her next shift.

She hung up her scarf, and almost jumped out of her skin when she turned and Tyra stood behind her, munching on a rice cake.

"Tyra! You... I figured that you would be asleep. You scared ten years off of my life."

"Sorry." Tyra replied unrepentantly, watching as Emily kicked off her shoes and placed them neatly on their rack.

"You know, excessive neatness is a disease. Right up there with... well, anyway, it makes me feel like a slob when you insist on being so clean. Did you talk to Will or Micah?"

Emily took a second to think longingly of her bed. "Theres absolutely nothing wrong with being neat. I just like to know where all my stuff is. Saves me time in the mornings. That way, both of us aren't running around in a panic every morning. Someone has to make the coffee."

She sat down at the kitchen island, taking a cookie out of the jar and contemplating it for a second before biting into it. What the hell, you only lived once.

"And yes, I did talk to Will. I think we're sort of back to normal. He doesn't seem mad at me anymore, anyway. Which is nice. Now I just have to figure out what to do with Micah, and everything will be great."

Tyra sat down next to her. " I'm sure you'll figure it all out. Especially since you have me to help you out! My love life is dead in the water right now- Ms. cute lab tech just hooked back up with her ex girlfriend. Its ok, though. There's a new nurse in oncology, and I'm pretty sure she bats for my team."

Emily couldn't help but laugh. Sometimes, having a lesbian as a best friend made conversations a little surreal.

"I'm sure you'll charm her right off of her feet. Now, since I am dead on mine, I'd like to go to bed. One of us has a shift tomorrow at nine. How you managed to get tomorrow off is beyond me."

Tyra grinned at her. " likes me better. Or maybe she likes you better, and expects you to live at the hospital like she does. I swear, the closer it gets to her vacation, the less she leaves Its like she's terrified something crazy is going to happen when she leaves."

Emily nodded. "I've noticed that, too. Well, her last shift is tomorrow so I guess we'll see how we make it without her. Good night!"

Stripping out of her work clothes, Emily got into her PJs and fell onto her bed, asleep before her head hit the pillow.

~Hey everyone! Sorry I've been absent in posting the new chapter, and this one is so short its just a tease. Work has been nuts and I've had some writer's block. I think its all gone now, though, so with any luck I'll have a longer chapter up tomorrow or the next day.


	7. Chapter 7

_Chapter 7_

Emily was just finishing up changing into her scrubs, a sunny yellow colour with a white long sleeved t-shirt underneath, when Cassandra breezed into the room with Dr. Albagetti.

The two were laughing about something, and Emily didn't miss the way Cassandra's hand lingered at the other doctor's elbow. What was the little schemer up to now? Emily thought, checking her watch and closing her locker.

With any luck, Cassandra wouldn't notice her and she'd be able to-

"Oh, Emily. I didn't see you there. Dr. Albagetti was just telling me about how he saved this little boy at a car accident he happened to drive by. His airway was blocked because of facial trauma, so of course he couldn't use an NPA or an OPA, so he had to do an emergency trakeotomy. He turned right around after a fifteen hour shift, came back to the hospital and insisted on being part of the operating team. Isn't that something?" Cassandra gushed, and Emily smiled, edging closer to the door.

It was something, all right. Turning around and insisting on being part of the OR team, after a fifteen hour shift, when there were doctors who were fresh on shift... Seemed like an ego move to Emily. But, from what she'd heard, Albagetti was almost a miracle worker. Even if Bandari and him didn't always see eye to eye.

The male doctor returned Emily's smile. "What else could I do? The boy's parents near begged me. Micah was there, he wasn't pleased when Gina let me in on the surgery. He could have done just as good a job as I did, but Dr. Bandari's always had a soft spot for me."

As much as Emily hated to admit it, she figured Cassandra was right about him. Jamie Albagett was trouble with a capital T. And whatever Cassandra's play with him was, Emily didn't see it turning out well.

"Speaking of Micah, what's going on with you two?" Cassandra smirked behind his back as Emily suddeny got tongue tied.

"Oh, don't tease her. She'll start sweating and you'll find out why we called her pits all throuhg high school."

Even though it was a typically nasty Cassandra comment, it gave Emily an excuse to fake a laugh and escape from the changing room.

What had Micah said to his old friend to get him asking Emily about them? Maybe Tyra was right, and he still had feelings for her. He wouldn't be talking about her if he didn't, right?

But maybe he'd talked to him before he'd showed up at the apartment... Emily was still thinking about it when she joined Will and Tyra at the nurse's station, waiting for Micah and Dr. Bandari.

"Hey. I grabbed you a coffee on my way in." Will said with a smile, handing Emily her coffee.

"No one ever brings me coffee." Tyra complained, but waved Will off when he offered her his. "I'll go get some from the cafeteria later. Thanks."

It was a strange group she worked in, but she really liked them. Most of them, anyway, she amended as Cassandra walked around the corner, minus her new friend.

Will said hi to her, and she nodded brusquely back.

Emily suddenly wondered if she wasn't cozying up to to make Will jealous. Before she could ponder it any further though, Bandari and Micah showed up.

Micah gave her the smile he seemed to reserve for her before he put on his serious doctor face. Bandari started barking out questions.

Tyra answered her questions correctly with sarcoidosis, and they were off to see patients. One older woman with a history of pnumonia and emphysema, and a man in his mid twenties who'd broken his ankle and was allergic to the metal they'd used to pin it- he needed surgery, and Tyra was chosen to assist.

Emily presented a young boy with leukemia, he was responding very well to chemotherapy, and was on his way to remission when he came down with a miserable cold. With his immune system compromised, he was in the hospital for observation.

The morning flew by, and before she knew it, Emily was sitting in her office, going through files for her research assistant's job with Bandari while she picked at a salad.

A knock of her door pulled her attention to Micah, standing in the doorway with a couple sandwiches.

"Tyra said you'd retreated here to work on your files after rounds. She also said that you would probably forget to eat, so..." Micah looked a little nervous under his smile, so Emily pushed her files to the side and stood up.

Stretching, she ignored her protesting muscles. "Thanks. I could use a break, my back is killing me. Ham and cheese, eh?"

Micah nodded, unwrapping his sandwich and biting into it as he read over her notes.

Emily couldn't help but notice the muscles flexing in Micah's arm as he leaned against her desk. How had she ever been confused about how she felt about him? Sometimes she could be so dense.

Rolling her shoulders, Emily sat back in her chair.

"Sore shoulders? Sitting in here hunched over a desk isn't good for you." Micah moved behind her, and started massaging her shoulders. Emily tensed up for a second, but he didn't seem to notice what he was doing, so she leaned back, enjoying the sensation of his strong hands kneading her stiff shoulders.

"Feel better?" Emily vaugely heard him ask, and she sighed. "Hmm? Oh, yeah, sure. Thanks."

Micah checked his watch. "Well, its about that time. Ready to go?"

Nodding, Emily turned in her chair, accidentally knocking a few files off of the desk.

"Shoot." Emily knelt down, pulling the files back together. Micah got down in front of her, helping her pick them up.

Their fingers brushed a few times, making the butterflies come back to life in Emily's stomach. She wondered if he felt the same way, and snuck a look at him under her eyelashes. His eyes were on her as he picked up the files, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth when their eyes met.

They stood up, Micah handing her the files. Emily's cheeks reddened as she recalled the last time they were in a situation like this.

She couldn't help herself, her eyes wandered down to his lips, and her breath caught when she saw him doing the same.

He was going to kiss her again! Tyra was right, he still had feelings for her! Emily looked up at him, and started to lean forward when a crash outside of her office pulled her out of her stupor, and she jumped back, almost tripping over her chair.

Micah grabbed her arm, keeping her from toppling over the chair.

"Well, I'll just... put these down." Emily cleared her throat, stepping back and dropping the files onto her desk.

To her relief, Micah looked about as surprised as she felt. Apparently he hadn't expected that to happen, either.

Hope flared to life in Emily's chest. They still had a chance.

"All good to go?" Micah asked, clearing his throat.

Emily nodded, and they walked out together. "I'll talk to you later?" She asked as they split up to do their rounds, and he replied in the affirmative.

Halfway through her rounds, Emily heard someone call her name.

"Dr. Owens?" Turning, Emily saw Micah's mother being wheeled down the hall by Penny.

Emily turned, walking back towards them. Penny gave her a look. "I'll go grab you some juice from the cafeteria, mom. Be right back."

"Is everything ok, mrs. Barnes?" Emily asked.

"I'm fine, Penny is just going to get me something from the cafeteria. I've actually been meaning to talk to you, if you have a few minutes."

"Of course," Emily replied. "Do you want me to take you back to your room so you can be comfortable?"

Shaking her head, Micah's mother folded her hands in her lap. Emily couldn't help but notice how paper-thin her skin looked, the blue veins clearly visible in her hands and wrists. Her eyes were brighter, though. Even though Emily didn't condone what Penny was doing, she couldn't deny that the older woman seemed to get her fight back since she had returned with the fake pregnancy.

Staying alive to see her grandchild was as good of a reason as any, Emily supposed. She just hoped that she would be able to deal as well with the fake miscarriage, and that it wouldn't make things worse. Emily knew how much Micah wanted his mother to live- and who wouldn'? No one wanted to watch someone they loved waste away in pain, and for a doctor, to not be able to do anything would be like torture.

"Just wheel me into the sitting room, we can talk there. No one is in there at this time of day anyway."

Emily complied, taking a seat across from Mrs. Barnes. "What did you want to talk about?" Emily asked, curious now. She'd spoken to the woman before, of course, but Micah had always been there. For his mother to ask to speak to her alone, Emily wondered what it was about.

The older woman studied the golden wedding band on one of her thin fingers for a moment. "I was married to my husband six months after we met. I knew, as soon as I saw him, that Joseph was the man I was going to marry. It's like that for some people. Penny, now, she thinks every man she sees that looks back at her is her future husband. I think thats how she ended up in her current predicament."

Emily sat silently, not sure how to respond. Joyce continued before Emily had to.

"I wasn't planning on doing this trial Micah had found. I was tired. Tired of the treatments, tired of the pain. But then, my girl comes along and she needs her mother. She's going to be a mother, and god knows she isn't ready. So she needs me. Micah, he's always been the serious one. Always taking care of his sister, tending to his studies. I never really saw him with a woman he really liked. Of course, he dated and I met his girlfriends. He always told me about any girl he was interested in. But none of them was the right one. Micah is like me, I always figured he would knew when he met that right girl."

Emily thought she knew where this was going, and she fought the flush that crept into her cheeks when she remembered how just a few minutes ago, she'd been in her office with him, thinking about kissing him.

Joyce studied the young girl sitting in front of her. "Now, you, he talks he only talks about how you're a good doctor, and he thinks that you're going to be great in whatever you decide to specialize in. He gets this look in his eye, my Micah does, when he talks about you. He thinks hes good at hiding it, but he's not. He's different with you, and I think you can see it."

"He's a great guy. You raised him well." Emily replied, feeling a little queasy to be talking to Micah's mother about this.

"I did, and thank you for saying it. I don't know if you're the right girl for Micah, but I like you, and he does too, I think."

Penny chose that moment to walk in, and Emily's pager went off. She took it off her belt, and looked at it.

"Go on. Thanks for talking with me." Joyce took the juice tht her daughter offered her, and told her to bring her back to her room.

Emily told her to have a good day before rushing off to answer the page, mind spinning.


End file.
